There will always be cowards, and egotists, and naive optimists born to future generations and all of them will invariably fall into the yawning pit of nihilism that awaits such people. Still, the fact remains that misanthropy is an inexcusable and indefensible philosophical position. No matter how good the excuse for it sounds when espoused by individuals who have suffered at the hands of their friends and neighbors, it can never apply to the majority of all people without being guilty of rash generalization.

Sure, over a long enough time line betrayal awaits us all, but the benefits of human bonding so heavily outweigh the pain and unproductivity of isolation, that the risk of injury is always worth it. This is not only true for us emotionally, but true in the real world of competitive ecosystems. If it were not, social animal species, from ants and wasps, to fish and birds wouldn't have come to so thoroughly dominate the planet. There is merit to the project of civilization and 300 years after the enlightenment we are uniquely positioned to see it.

Sure, everyone needs to bond with someone. Doesn't necessarily have to be a human. I own two cats. Bindi, and Nik. They have been better companions to me than most HUMANS I have met have been and will ever be.

As I posted earlier:

Why bother with humans, who inevitably will backstab, lie, cheat, or hurt you, when you can have an animal companion who will love you unfailingly, no matter what you do? Namely because animals don't understand what lying is and betrayal. And you don't see animals murdering each other everyday for stupid, petty, idiotic reasons like humans do.

Just take a look at the news, any day at all. What's on there? OH, HEY, someone was MURDERED and RAPED. Oh, another MURDER! A BOMBING. Or maybe even a SHOOTING.

Humans are destroying the planet we live on with pollution and chemical warfare. HUMANS are blowing up CHILDREN with CHEMICAL WEAPONS in SYRIA. I saw a photograph of a dead child. Of children with burns all over their scalps from chemicals.

Who did that? HUMANS DID.

And that's the only 'defence' needed.

I think what you're lacking is hope. Hope for the future and hope that things will improve. Isn't that what drives most people to continue moving forward? Perhaps it's just ignorance in the end but hope is what most people rely on. You must remember that you're also human. There are many others that think the same way and have the same beliefs. It's fine to distrust most of humanity but to believe that everybody is evil only reveals your lack of experience.

"And you don't see animals murdering each other everyday for stupid, petty, idiotic reasons like humans do."
Animals murder each other for stupid, petty, idiotic reasons all the time. Most animals will kill each other for simply entering their territory. That'd be like if I claimed my entire block as my territory and killed you for walking on my sidewalk. Most humans are a little bit more civilized than that. There are many more reasons why animals are just as murderous as humans but I don't feel like listing all of them.

Anyway, the whole point is that you must remember one thing. Humans are the only species capable of saving this world and changing other humans. You can sit around and complain about how you hate humanity or you can do something about it.

Animals don't go and slaughter other animals 'for fun'. They don't beat you up based on religion, race, gender, sexuality. Most of the time, it's for instinct and survival.

And really, if someone walks into your house without permission, are you just going to let that slide? No.

And Humans? They kill each other for stupid things. If you cheat on your partner, they might kill you. If someone doesn't like you, you could get killed for that. People get mugged for $5 in their wallets, for drugs, for alcohol. Someone got robbed for having a copy of bloody GTA5 for crying out loud.

I wish I wasn't human. Humans do so many disgusting things that I'm ashamed to be one.

And you say, 'have hope'... But a person 100 years ago might've had hope when the world started turning bad. And now, 100 years later, will he still have hope? Things only got worse. I don't want to be one of the ignorant sheep living in 'hope' that things will get better for my entire life...

There will always be cowards, and egotists, and naive optimists born to future generations and all of them will invariably fall into the yawning pit of nihilism that awaits such people. Still, the fact remains that misanthropy is an inexcusable and indefensible philosophical position. No matter how good the excuse for it sounds when espoused by individuals who have suffered at the hands of their friends and neighbors, it can never apply to the majority of all people without being guilty of rash generalization.

Sure, over a long enough time line betrayal awaits us all, but the benefits of human bonding so heavily outweigh the pain and unproductivity of isolation, that the risk of injury is always worth it. This is not only true for us emotionally, but true in the real world of competitive ecosystems. If it were not, social animal species, from ants and wasps, to fish and birds wouldn't have come to so thoroughly dominate the planet. There is merit to the project of civilization and 300 years after the enlightenment we are uniquely positioned to see it.

Sure, everyone needs to bond with someone. Doesn't necessarily have to be a human. I own two cats. Bindi, and Nik. They have been better companions to me than most HUMANS I have met have been and will ever be.

As I posted earlier:

Why bother with humans, who inevitably will backstab, lie, cheat, or hurt you, when you can have an animal companion who will love you unfailingly, no matter what you do? Namely because animals don't understand what lying is and betrayal. And you don't see animals murdering each other everyday for stupid, petty, idiotic reasons like humans do.

Just take a look at the news, any day at all. What's on there? OH, HEY, someone was MURDERED and RAPED. Oh, another MURDER! A BOMBING. Or maybe even a SHOOTING.

Humans are destroying the planet we live on with pollution and chemical warfare. HUMANS are blowing up CHILDREN with CHEMICAL WEAPONS in SYRIA. I saw a photograph of a dead child. Of children with burns all over their scalps from chemicals.

Who did that? HUMANS DID.

And that's the only 'defence' needed.

What you're witnessing on television and in the news is a false representation of reality. In truth we are living in the most peaceful era in world history. I suggest reading Dr. Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined for a detailed explanation.

When it comes to the news the issue is simply one of confirmation bias. There are no news reporters standing on street corners saying things like: "Yes, for the last 98 years there has been absolutely no warfare in this city." For that matter, they don't cover things like "This old man died comfortably in his bed last night, after 87 years of living peacefully." We simply aren't aware of the extraordinarily non-violent times in which we live as compared to just a century ago. Rates of one violent death per three hundred thousand are nothing to sneer at, especially when even Europeans during the enlightenment died violently, often at the hands of a neighbor, at a rate of one in five. Go all the way back to the days of tribal society and men weren't even considered men until they had taken a life. The myth of the noble savage is exactly that, a myth.

Your life is tremendously peaceful as a result of the progress of civilization. Without humanity, it would be fantastically bleak and harsh in ways you can scarcely imagine.

Oh and honestly, if you care as much about the suffering of your friends and neighbors, as your post made it sound, please either donate or volunteer at your local fire department, or homeless shelter. Community is built in such ways, but of course, and let's face it, more importantly to the individual, it's emotionally rewarding. Nothing like a little reciprocal altruism.

There will always be cowards, and egotists, and naive optimists born to future generations and all of them will invariably fall into the yawning pit of nihilism that awaits such people. Still, the fact remains that misanthropy is an inexcusable and indefensible philosophical position. No matter how good the excuse for it sounds when espoused by individuals who have suffered at the hands of their friends and neighbors, it can never apply to the majority of all people without being guilty of rash generalization.

Sure, over a long enough time line betrayal awaits us all, but the benefits of human bonding so heavily outweigh the pain and unproductivity of isolation, that the risk of injury is always worth it. This is not only true for us emotionally, but true in the real world of competitive ecosystems. If it were not, social animal species, from ants and wasps, to fish and birds wouldn't have come to so thoroughly dominate the planet. There is merit to the project of civilization and 300 years after the enlightenment we are uniquely positioned to see it.

Sure, everyone needs to bond with someone. Doesn't necessarily have to be a human. I own two cats. Bindi, and Nik. They have been better companions to me than most HUMANS I have met have been and will ever be.

As I posted earlier:

Why bother with humans, who inevitably will backstab, lie, cheat, or hurt you, when you can have an animal companion who will love you unfailingly, no matter what you do? Namely because animals don't understand what lying is and betrayal. And you don't see animals murdering each other everyday for stupid, petty, idiotic reasons like humans do.

Just take a look at the news, any day at all. What's on there? OH, HEY, someone was MURDERED and RAPED. Oh, another MURDER! A BOMBING. Or maybe even a SHOOTING.

Humans are destroying the planet we live on with pollution and chemical warfare. HUMANS are blowing up CHILDREN with CHEMICAL WEAPONS in SYRIA. I saw a photograph of a dead child. Of children with burns all over their scalps from chemicals.

Who did that? HUMANS DID.

And that's the only 'defence' needed.

I think what you're lacking is hope. Hope for the future and hope that things will improve. Isn't that what drives most people to continue moving forward? Perhaps it's just ignorance in the end but hope is what most people rely on. You must remember that you're also human. There are many others that think the same way and have the same beliefs. It's fine to distrust most of humanity but to believe that everybody is evil only reveals your lack of experience.

"And you don't see animals murdering each other everyday for stupid, petty, idiotic reasons like humans do."
Animals murder each other for stupid, petty, idiotic reasons all the time. Most animals will kill each other for simply entering their territory. That'd be like if I claimed my entire block as my territory and killed you for walking on my sidewalk. Most humans are a little bit more civilized than that. There are many more reasons why animals are just as murderous as humans but I don't feel like listing all of them.

Anyway, the whole point is that you must remember one thing. Humans are the only species capable of saving this world and changing other humans. You can sit around and complain about how you hate humanity or you can do something about it.

Animals don't go and slaughter other animals 'for fun'. They don't beat you up based on religion, race, gender, sexuality. Most of the time, it's for instinct and survival.

And really, if someone walks into your house without permission, are you just going to let that slide? No.

And Humans? They kill each other for stupid things. If you cheat on your partner, they might kill you. If someone doesn't like you, you could get killed for that. People get mugged for $5 in their wallets, for drugs, for alcohol. Someone got robbed for having a copy of bloody GTA5 for crying out loud.

I wish I wasn't human. Humans do so many disgusting things that I'm ashamed to be one.

And you say, 'have hope'... But a person 100 years ago might've had hope when the world started turning bad. And now, 100 years later, will he still have hope? Things only got worse. I don't want to be one of the ignorant sheep living in 'hope' that things will get better for my entire life...

Well, animals do kill each other based on race, gender and sexuality. They aren't intelligent enough to understand the concept of religion.
You think you're being intelligent by hating humanity but you're just being the ignorant sheep you hate. Things have definitely improved since 100 years ago and will continue to do so. You're only able to sit on your computer and complain about humanity because of the privileged time we live in. You wouldn't even be able to complain about your state of mind if you weren't human and didn't live in a time of peace.

The thing is, I live in the middle of nowhere in Texas, where everyone drives pickup trucks and seeing a confederate flag is a somewhat common occurrence, everyone is god-fearing, and very few people enjoy anime or manga (only about seven people in my entire school as far as I know). I don't fit in here, being that I am one of the few people with no southern accent, one of the few who enjoys things other than football and blowing shit up with rifles, and one of the few who doesn't believe in any kind of god. As such, I hold a very negative view on many of those around me, as they do the same about me.

However, I wouldn't consider myself a misanthrope simply because I'm aware that there are plenty of people like me elsewhere throughout the world. I know that there is probably a place where I can be happy with many people who are like me. I can understand how someone could be misanthropic. At certain times in my life I might have ever considered myself as one. But I do see a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, because I am nearing the end of my high school career, and don't see myself staying much longer after it is over. Sure, there are plenty of bad people out there, and there are plenty of stupid people out there, but over all I think the goodness of humanity will outweigh the evils.

The thing is, I live in the middle of nowhere in Texas, where everyone drives pickup trucks and seeing a confederate flag is a somewhat common occurrence, everyone is god-fearing, and very few people enjoy anime or manga (only about seven people in my entire school as far as I know). I don't fit in here, being that I am one of the few people with no southern accent, one of the few who enjoys things other than football and blowing shit up with rifles, and one of the few who doesn't believe in any kind of god. As such, I hold a very negative view on many of those around me, as they do the same about me.

However, I wouldn't consider myself a misanthrope simply because I'm aware that there are plenty of people like me elsewhere throughout the world. I know that there is probably a place where I can be happy with many people who are like me. I can understand how someone could be misanthropic. At certain times in my life I might have ever considered myself as one. But I do see a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, because I am nearing the end of my high school career, and don't see myself staying much longer after it is over. Sure, there are plenty of bad people out there, and there are plenty of stupid people out there, but over all I think the goodness of humanity will outweigh the evils.

I know how that goes living in Arkansas. I guess if I am to subscribe to misanthropy, it's more of a sense of being...out of place. I haven't had the worst life or gone through abuse or anything, but I only have one friend and tend to not trust other people. And being socially awkward trying to reach out and be hopeful doesn't help too much, either, lol.

But people in general can't be said to be so bad. They do what they do, you do what you do, and you won't meet up 100% at any given moment. Wow, that makes me sound way nicer than I actually am.

Interesting topic. I could simply just be called a hypocrite, because I am a misanthrope, but that I am both arrogant because I view humans as beneath me, but when I accept the reality, I loathe myself more than any other human in this damned planet. So I can be all of them, call it what you will, a Jack of All Trades, Omnipotent, but Hypocrite fits the best. ./

Interesting topic. I could simply just be called a hypocrite, because I am a misanthrope, but that I am both arrogant because I view humans as beneath me, but when I accept the reality, I loathe myself more than any other human in this damned planet. So I can be all of them, call it what you will, a Jack of All Trades, Omnipotent, but Hypocrite fits the best. ./

I distrust and dislike more people that I like so I'm pretty misanthropic I suppose. Most of the human race is arsehole-ish when you look at it. I would never go around saying I hate all of humanity though. That's depressing and would ruin everyones day including my own.

Well I would say that I do dislike (not hate) humans sometimes, but that's only because humans are the cause of my permanent depression, when I was having suicidal thoughts in the past, and the reason why I'm such a negative person with no self-confidence or self-esteem who can't think of one thing that I like about myself.................................Wow this got WAY to depressing haha ^^" I think I got a little to emotional with this one, I apologize haha ^^"

I wouldn't say I'm a misanthropist or anything though. I do get along with people and everything and I do give people a chance when I meet them...so....yea ^__^

I don't really have a problem with it. It's just that to recognize all of humanity's flaws, one must also recognize that these flaws are within themselves as well. My opinion on it is, well, we're not that bad . I mean, sure we kill each other and destroy environments, but we also make a lot of nice things, like the internet.

I guess I'd say I'm somewhat of a misanthropist. Maybe that's because I'm quite cynical. I don't have a story about why I have this outlook. I just believe that while humans are capable of and have done many amazing things, it'd be better if we didn't exist in the first place.